[DigitalToday reporter Ji-young Lee] Toss Place, a Toss subsidiary that supplies payment terminals and POS solutions, is joining hands with BNK Kyongnam Bank to expand payment infrastructure for small merchants in South Gyeongsang Province. It is widening cooperation within BNK Financial Group after signing an agreement with Busan Bank and adding Kyongnam Bank as a partner.

Toss Place said on Oct. 28 it signed a memorandum of understanding with Kyongnam Bank to help revitalise the local economy.

Under the agreement, the two sides plan to pursue technical cooperation on payment services, expand merchant infrastructure and carry out joint marketing for local small merchants.

They will expand payment infrastructure at merchants in South Gyeongsang using Toss Place's payment terminal, the Toss Front, and its POS system. They also plan joint marketing for local small merchants to support shop owners in using a more convenient payment environment.

They plan to broaden the scope of cooperation in stages. The two sides will review joint sales plans using various local touchpoints such as local governments, agencies and franchises, and also plan to seek services that link local finance with payments.

Toss Place expects the partnership to improve payment convenience for local small merchants and broaden the user base for offline payment services in the Busan and South Gyeongsang region, which it said has the largest merchant market size after the Seoul metropolitan area.

A Toss Place official said the partnership is meaningful in that it provides practical help to small merchants by cooperating with a local financial institution. The official said combining Kyongnam Bank's local network with Toss Place's payment technology is expected to improve convenience for shop owners.